Italy 2025
Opening October 16, 2025

Directed by: Maxim Derevianko
Writing credits: Maxim Derevianko, Michele Cogo
Principal actors: Documentary: Ai Weiwei, Chiang Ching, Oksana Lyniv

 “I like trouble. I think opera is truly trouble.” Ai Weiwei opens this feature documentary about his participation in the Giacomo Puccini opera Turandot with his personal thoughts on opera, explaining further that he is not interested in opera at all and normally he doesn’t listen to music. But he did have a part as an extra in Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish, glittering Metropolitan Opera production of Turandot thirty-three years before. He was recommended for a part by Chiang Ching, who at that time was the choreographer for Turandot. Chiang Ching had been friends in China with Ai Weiwei’s father, Ai Qing. Ai Weiwei asked Chiang Ching to be choreographer for his production, which he said now would bring him full circle, a circumstance he sees as “a little bit of a fairytale.”

Ai Weiwei’s directorial debut at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is quite different from the famous Zeffirelli extravaganza. He draws upon his own life as a Chinese revolutionary artist and activist to present a story of people who have lost everything and are willing to take a chance for a new, rich life. He sees Turandot as being about the world today and chooses all new costume and stage designs to reflect China is not a free country. His experiences influence every aspect of the opera, from using high rises to indicate classes of society, to projecting videos of struggles on a screen behind the stage. The videos show current events impacting humanity, like the Ukraine war, a particularly potent issue since the Principal Conductor of the opera is Oksana Lyniv, a Ukrainian.
This film is for fans of Ai Weiwei and opera alike to see Ai Weiwei behind the scenes and out front as he brings his vision of Turandot to life. (Mary W.)